This imaginative festival mines the rich theme of "extraction" this year, with a host of films and events exploring human appropriation of raw materials in the broadest sense. It's a very literal theme for Chinese film-maker Wang Bing, whose epic films (such as the 14-hour Crude Oil and The Ditch) convey the full scope of industrial activity. There's music too, as Test Department regroup to bring industrial site Dunston Staiths – a massive structure on the Tyne – back to life for a series of outdoor audio-visual events.

No self-respecting music artiste indulges in mere music videos these days. Like Sigur Rós, Kanye West and Beyoncé before her, Alison Goldfrapp has taken things a stage further, producing a 30-minute short film to visually enhance her latest album, Tales Of Us (the film follows Goldfrapp's Performer As Curator exhibition at the Lowry). Co-written and directed by Lisa Gunning (who edited Nowhere Boy and Seven Psychopaths), the film of the same title illustrates five of the album's songs, each concerned with an individual. Expect sensual, monochrome mood pieces in the mould of Goldfrapp's heroes Bergman, Lynch and Antonioni. This one-off screening of the film, at cinemas nationwide, is accompanied by an "exclusive, intimate" live performance from the band, beamed via satellite from London's Air Studios.

The balance between Spain and its former territories has tilted during the 20 years this festival has been operating, to the extent that the Latin American contingent now dominates, with new movies from Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia making up for a shortfall in Spanish fare. Comedies bookend the event: opener Days Of Vinyl follows four Argentinian record junkies, while the second week's Tasting Menu doubles as a celebration of Catalan haute cuisine. There are darker shades in between, though, as found in Peruvian post-apocalyptic sci-fi The Cleaner, Spanish disaster scenario The Last Days, and Mexican immigrant drama The Golden Dream.

Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty was one of the biggest foreign-language hits of last year – and ought to have a good shot at an Oscar tomorrow. In the meantime, here's what the rest of Italian cinema has been up to. Sorrentino's regular star, Toni Servillo, plays twin brothers in political farce Viva La Libertà. Meanwhile one of Sorrentino's inspirations, Federico Fellini, is celebrated in a new documentary by his friend Ettore Scola (entitled: How Strange To Be Named Federico!). Among the other recent releases (many accompanied by intros and Q&A sessions with their directors) you'll find films that deal with Syrian war survivors, transgender car mechanics, narcissistic young artists and Italian football at the very lowest level.